Coping of Young Refugees in Germany
Relations to Gender, Age, and Gender Role Attitudes
Abstract
Abstract.Background: Coping is considered to have an important influence on well-being, especially in adolescent refugees dealing with a high amount of stress. In addition, gender differences in coping are a common topic for research and are often attributed to differences in socialization between boys and girls. Aims: The study aims at clarifying the gender differences in coping strategies used by non-Western adolescents. Additionally, associations with aspects of socialization, in particular Gender Role Attitudes (GRA), on gender differences are investigated. Method: Refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan (N = 106, 55% male) aged 11–18 years completed questionnaires in schools or housing facilities. Associations between gender, GRA, coping strategies, and well-being were investigated using moderation and regression analyses. Results: Gender differences found in previous literature could, in part be replicated. Refugee girls reported more anger-related emotion regulation than boys did. However, GRA did not show any connections to coping strategies. Limitations: Most limitations result from low reliabilities and possible biases due to the use of self-reports. Conclusion: The more frequent use of anger-related emotion regulation as the only gender difference replicated in this study highlights the importance of research with refugee samples to prevent over-generalization of previous results from Western cultures.
References
2021). The role of coping strategies in interpersonal identity development of war-affected immigrant adolescents. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2021(176), 103–121. https://doi.org/10.1002/cad.20392
(2013). Age and gender differences in coping style across various problems: Omani adolescents’ perspective. Journal of Adolescence, 36(2), 303–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.11.007
(2019). Coping strategies used by Syrian refugees in Jordan. Clinical Nursing Research, 28(4), 396–421. https://doi.org/10.1177/1054773817749724
(2006). The Social Roles Questionnaire: A new approach to measuring attitudes toward gender. Sex Roles, 54(7–8), 459–467. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9018-y
(2006). Sex role ideology among East Asian immigrants in the United States. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(4), 512–517. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.76.4.512
(2006). Gender role flexibility in early adolescence: Developmental change in attitudes, self-perceptions, and behaviors. Sex Roles, 55(3–4), 233–245. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9076-1
(2016). Geschlechtsunterschiede in der Stressvulnerabilität, Stressbewältigung und Stresssymptomatik bei Grundschulkindern
([Gender differences in stress vulnerability, coping strategies, and stress symptoms in childhood] . Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie, 24(3), 145–155. https://doi.org/10.1026/0943-8149/a0001652011). Measurement of post-war coping and stress responses: A study of Bosnian adolescents. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 32(6), 323–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2011.07.001
(2018). On detecting systematic measurement error in cross-cultural research: A review and critical reflection on equivalence and invariance tests. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(5), 713–734. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117749042
(1989). Problem-Solving appraisal and coping style: The influence of sex-role orientation and gender. The Journal of Psychology, 123(2), 187–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1989.10542975
(2002). Coping style and depression in early adolescence: Relationships to gender, gender role, and implicit beliefs. Sex Roles, 46(7/8), 201–213. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019946714220
(2011). Psychological distress in refugee children: A systematic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 14(1), 44–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-010-0081-0
(2015). Trends in life satisfaction in European and North-American adolescents from 2002 to 2010 in over 30 countries. European Journal of Public Health, 25(Suppl 2), 80–82. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckv014
(2011). Coping strategies with minor stressors in adolescence: Relationships with social support, self-efficacy, and psychological well-being. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41(3), 559–578. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00726.x
(2001). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research. Psychological Bulletin, 127(1), 87–127. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.1.87
(1995). Differences in young adolescents’ coping strategies based on gender and ethnicity. Journal of Early Adolescence, 15(2), 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1177/2F0272431695015002002
(2010). Bewältigung alltäglicher Stresssituationen von Kindern und Jugendlichen
([Coping with daily stressors in children and adolescents: The influence of stressful situation, age, and gender] . Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie, 18(3), 103–118. https://doi.org/10.1026/0943-8149/a0000182012). A Turkish adaptation of the coping scales from the German Stress and Coping Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 28(1), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000088
(2007). Gender differences in coping strategies in children and adolescents. Journal of Individual Differences, 28(1), 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001.28.1.18
(2006). Die Diagnostik von Stressbewältigung mit dem “Fragebogen zur Erhebung von Stress und Stressbewältigung im Kindes- und Jugendalter” (SSKJ 3–8)
([The assessment of coping with the “Questionnaire for the Measurement Stress and Coping in Children and Adolescents (SSKJ 3–8)”: Factors and psychometric analyses] . Diagnostica, 52(3), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1026/0012-1924.52.3.1312018). Development of coping strategies from childhood to adolescence. European Journal of Health Psychology, 25(1), 18–30. https://doi.org/10.1027/2512-8442/a000005
(2012). Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in high-income countries: Risk and protective factors. The Lancet, 379(9812), 266–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60051-2
(1998). Gender and coping: Use of distinct strategies and associations with stress and depression. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 11(4), 289–309. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615809808248316
(2015). Gender differences in development of mental well-being from adolescence to young adulthood: An eight-year follow-up study. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 43(3), 269–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494815569864
(2005). Age and gender effects on coping in children and adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34(2), 73–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-005-3207-9
(2006). Perceived stress, coping, and adjustment in adolescents. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 38(4), 409–415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.02.014
(1994). Gender and coping: The dual-axis model of coping. American Journal of Community Psychology, 22(1), 49–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02506817
(2018). The social determinants of refugee mental health in the post-migration context: A critical review. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry/Revue Canadienne de Psychiatrie, 63(5), 297–303. https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743717746666
(2012). Stressbewältigung von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland und der Türkei: Interkulturelle Unterschiede in der Suche nach sozialer Unterstützung?
([Coping in children and adolescents in Germany and Turkey: Cultural differences in seeking social support?] Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie, 20(1), 22–26. https://doi.org/10.1026/0943-8149/a0000582009). Motivated response styles: The role of cultural values, regulatory focus, and self-consciousness in socially desirable responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(4), 870–882. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014622
(2015). Adaptive und maladaptive Emotionsregulationsstrategien im Jugendalter
([Adaptive and Maladaptive Emotion Regulation Strategies in Adolescence] . Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie, 23(3), 101–111. https://doi.org/10.1026/0943-8149/a0001411984). Stress, appraisal, and coping (11th ed.). Springer.
(2004). Review of child and adolescent refugee mental health. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43(1), 24–36. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200401000-00012
(2017). Coping mediates the association between gender and depressive symptomatology in adolescence. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(2), 185–197. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025415616202
(2009). Age and gender differences in health-related quality of life of children and adolescents in Europe: A multilevel analysis. Quality of Life Research, 18(9), 1147–1157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-009-9538-3
(2016). Stress with parents and peers: How adolescents from 18 nations cope with relationship stress. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 29(1), 38–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2015.1021249
(2001). Gender differences and similarities in adolescents’ way of coping. The Psychological Record, 51, 223–235. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395396
(2020). R: A language and environment for statistical computing (Version 4.0.3) [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/
. (2010). Reliability, construct and criterion validity of the KIDSCREEN-10 Score: A short measure for children and adolescents’ aell-being and health-related quality of life. Quality of Life Research: An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care and Rehabilitation, 19(10), 1487–1500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9706-5
(2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141
(1996). Uses and abuses of coefficient alpha. Psychological Assessment, 8(4), 350–355. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.8.4.350
(2012). Geschlechtstypische Unterschiede und geschlechtstypische Erwartungen beim Einsatz von Bewältigungsstrategien und ihre Zusammenhänge zum Problemverhalten von Jugendlichen
([Sex differences and sex-related expectancies regarding the use of coping strategies and their relations to adolescents’ problem behavior] . Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie, 20(1), 13–21. https://doi.org/10.1026/0943-8149/a0000602016). Individual and culture-level components of survey response styles: A multi-level analysis using cultural models of selfhood. International Journal of Psychology/Journal International de Psychologie, 453–463. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12293
(2002). Sex differences in coping behavior: A meta-analytic review and an examination of relative coping. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6(1), 2–30. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0601_1
(2006). Social psychology (12th ed.). Pearson.
(2006). Cross-national variation of gender differences in adolescent subjective health in Europe and North America. Social Science & Medicine, 62(4), 815–827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.06.047
(2011). MICE: Multivariate imputation by chained equations in R. Journal of Statistical Software, 45(3), 1–67. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v045.i03
(2004). Gender and gender-role orientation differences on adolescents’ coping with peer stressors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33(1), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1027330213113
(2005). Individual Differences in Adolescent Health Symptoms: The Effects of Gender and Coping. Journal of Adolescence, 28(3), 369–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.08.004
(2011). The development of coping across childhood and adolescence: An integrative review and critique of research. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025410384923
(2014). Emotion regulation from early adolescence to emerging adulthood and middle adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 38(2), 182–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025413515405
(